I nearly got dragged into an Twitter argument ((Twurgument?) about semantics the other day, although saying I was “nearly dragged” is disingenuous: It’s more accurate to say I came very close to voluntarily starting an argument.
The interesting thing? The potential argument—and the tweet I had drafted and was ready to send to start this argument—wasn’t about a field I have any attachment to or am emotionally invested in. I was just in the mood for a “good” argument.
So why didn’t I take the bait? One thing saved me: I have a tweeting process such that whenever I write the rough draft of a tweet with potential for conflict I sit on it for 24 hours—and in this case my process worked. I realized all this tweet was going to do for me was to increase my stress level and take away my most valuable asset, my time. I was one keystroke away from replies, and replies to replies, and hashtags, and retweets, and clarifications, A Twitter argument can go on all day.
Draft tweet deleted. Time to move on.